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The role of epithelial-mesenchymal transition in squamous cell carcinoma of the oral cavity

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Abstract

Epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) has emerged as a possible mechanism of cancer metastasizing, but strong evidence for EMT involvement in human cancer is lacking. Our aim was to compare oral spindle cell carcinoma (SpCC) as an example of EMT with oral conventional squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) with and without nodal metastases to test the hypothesis that EMT contributes to metastasizing in oral SCC. Thirty cases of oral SCC with and without nodal metastasis and 15 cases of SpCC were included. Epithelial (cytokeratin, E-cadherin), mesenchymal (vimentin, N-cadherin), and stem cell markers (ALDH-1, CD44, Nanog, Sox-2) and transcription repressors (Snail, Slug, Twist) were analyzed immunohistochemically. We also analyzed the expression of microRNAs miR-141, miR-200 family, miR-205, and miR-429. SpCC exhibited loss of epithelial markers and expression of mesenchymal markers or coexpression of both up-regulation of transcription repressors and down-regulation of the investigated microRNAs. SCC showed only occasional focal expression of mesenchymal markers at the invasive front. No other differences were observed between SCC with and without nodal metastases except for a higher expression of ALDH-1 in SCC with metastases. Our results suggest that SpCC is an example of true EMT but do not support the hypothesis that EMT is involved in metastasizing of conventional SCC. Regarding oral SCC progression and metastasizing, we have been facing a shift from the initial enthusiasm for the EMT concept towards a more critical approach with “EMT-like” and “partial EMT” concepts. The real question, though, is, is there no EMT at all?

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. University of Ljubljana, Institute of Pathology, Faculty of Medicine, Korytkova 2, 1000, Ljubljana, Slovenia

    Nina Zidar, Emanuela Boštjančič & Nina Gale

  2. Department of Nephrology, University Clinical Center, Zaloška 7, Ljubljana, Slovenia

    Marija Malgaj

  3. Department of Maxillofacial and Oral Surgery, University Clinical Center, Zaloška 7, Ljubljana, Slovenia

    Tadej Dovšak & Vojko Didanovič

Authors
  1. Nina Zidar
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  2. Emanuela Boštjančič
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  3. Marija Malgaj
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  4. Nina Gale
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  5. Tadej Dovšak
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Correspondence to Nina Zidar.

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The study was approved by the State Ethical Committee.

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The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

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Zidar, N., Boštjančič, E., Malgaj, M. et al. The role of epithelial-mesenchymal transition in squamous cell carcinoma of the oral cavity. Virchows Arch 472, 237–245 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00428-017-2192-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00428-017-2192-1

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